Thursday, July 18, 2013

Grain Train confirms new store coming to Boyne City in fall 2013

Update: The Boyne City Grain Train store is now open; hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week.Grain Train press release, July 19, 2013: The Grain Train Natural Foods Market, in downtown Petoskey for over 41 years and the only certified organic grocer in our region, has announced their plans to open a satellite market in Boyne City in the fall of 2013. The new market will open in the 1550 square foot storefront in the Waters Building at 104 S. Park Street. One-quarter the size of the Petoskey store, it will have a well-chosen selection of products and the added advantage of sharing products from the Petoskey location to meet the shopping needs of Boyne City customers.

“We are very excited to make this announcement,” said Robert Struthers, general manager of the Grain Train stores. “We are well positioned at this time to open a second store and there is a clear need in Boyne for more organic foods and products. Opening a second store is also in line with our mission to provide greater access to healthy food choices in northern Michigan and to bring our successful cooperative business into other parts of the region. Opening it in Boyne City, where we have an amazing amount of support from the community, is icing on the cake.”

Struthers added, “The Grain Train has a strong following of committed customers and co-op member/owners who share our values and care about supporting businesses that return value to customers and community—which is what the co-op model is all about. We are community-owned and operated.”

Although a lot of work needs to be done in the coming weeks to get the market ready to open its doors, everyone involved is excited by the opportunities that a second store will provide. A grand opening is being planned for October.Editor's note from the Boyne Chamber: The store will be managed by Boyne City resident Jack Laurent, who has held a management position with the Grain Train for several years. The natural foods market posted the new store announcementon their website. Explaining why Boyne City was chosen, the website states: “It’s an exciting and growing community that we believe is very aligned with our values. We feel it is an easy and viable test market that poses minimal risk for our new small store concept.” The Chamber assisted the Grain Train in gauging local support in the spring by posting an online petition that was signed by 550 people.